The Wasteland Chronicles: Origins
by Zeref Alemer
Summary: Sometimes when life becomes too insicificant, fate has a ways of jsut showing up. Another retelling of the M!LW.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own fallout, their sequels, and the companies that produced the sequels, Bethesda, ZeniMax Media, Obsidian Entertainment, or anything else under this subject. I hope that someday I'm able to create something as epic as fallout, but for now I need to practice on working on my writing skills. Because I'm new to writing these kinds of stories, any feedback would be appreciated as each of the chapters come along. So with that said, let's get the show on the road shall we?**

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_War... War never changes…_

_Since the dawn of man, when our ancestors discovered the creation and the killing power of their tools, blood has been spilled in the name of any and everything possible: from religion, justice, or just simple, psychotic rage. In the year 2077, after millennia of combat, the destructive nature of humanity could no longer keep itself in check. The world was plunged into a state of fire and radiation. It was not the end of the world. Instead, the nuclear Armageddon was simply the beginning of another long and bloody chapter of humanity. While they had destroyed the world as they had known it, man had survived. But war... War hadn't changed…_

_In the early days, many were spared the horrors of the Apocalypse by taking refuge in enormous subterranean bunkers, known as vaults. But when their inhabitants emerged after the fire subsided, they only had the hell of the wastes to greet them... _

_All except those from Vault 101. For on judgment day, when hellfire rained from the sky, the giant steel doors of vault slid close and never reopened._

_It is here that you were born..._

_It is here that you will die..._

_Because in vault 101; no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves._

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10:30 PM

"Another day, another dose of melancholy," Landon Aldrich said to himself, opening the door to his apartment. He looked around the room, feeling worn and weary from completing another day of medical training with his father, James Aldrich. After closing the door behind him, he then sat down on his own couch. He then put down small bag he was carrying with him from his workplace on the coffee table. Opening up the bag, he removed a bottle of vodka that he had found lying around outside of DeLoria's apartment. He opened up a bottle and poured the contents into a small shot glass. Reclining back into the couch, he started to nurse his drink. Even though anyone to walk by and see him drinking that and even if he was under the drinking age, it was not going to stop him this night.

Landon had spent the day learning how make new medical supplies from raw materials. Making disinfectant and medical alcohol from vodka and whiskey, common cloth material and pins into gauze, bandages, sowing needles and thread, making soap from the food scraps of the meals they had when they had finished eating, etc. While there was a machine in the vault that could easily make all the materials for medical supplies, Landon knew he would have to know all this just in case it ever stops functioning. While most of his father's techniques in creating homemade medicine were quite unorthodox, they seem to have a lot of wisdom to his words, as though he had performed this countless times before. When Landon's training was completed for the day, he went and spent some time working with Stanley, making sure that his Pip boy was working correctly. While Landon was capable of repairing and programming his own Pip boy, he made sure that Stanley got a good look at it just to make sure that he had done everything correctly. For most of the other vault dwellers, this would've been a very tiring day indeed. But for Landon, this is not what made him tired. He always found medicine programming very fun, especially when he was learning how to jury rig his materials. It was the vault itself that made him weary.

In Landon's mind, vault 101 was not a paradise, it was an illusion. Most of the inhabitants were rather monotonous in their own life, doing the same over and over again. Butch DeLoria would lead around that "gang" of his and cause trouble for vault security and Landon. Christine Kendall eventually came to terms with working in the engineering department alongside Stanley, but would still gripe about her situation. Freddie Gomez still suffered from low self-esteem, but his father, Officer Gomez, made sure that his son did the best he could. Mr. Brotch would often teach reminiscent classes along with his normal teaching, often going back over the material that some of the vault dwellers have forgotten; namely Butch. Susie Mack was teaching the few remaining children that lived in the vault. Wally Mack got his job working for the Overseer, becoming a Vault loyalty inspector, something that scared Landon on more than one level. Finally was Alphonse, the current Overseer. Although Landon couldn't put his finger on it, something about the man made him feel insecure.

But it wasn't just the people of the Vault that was a problem. There were quite a few people that Landon had some form of appreciation for. Amata, the Overseer's daughter, had always been a close childhood friend of his. Out of everyone his age group, she was the only one who's really friendly with him. While it was true that sometimes he would have to save her from Butch and co, she was one of the few who we could really talk to without judgment. Jonas, was another man that he had come to respect over the years. Jonas helped his father repair a BB gun they had found down in the reactor level of the vault and had given it to Landon for his 10th birthday. When Landon began his medical training, Jonas usually gave him some advice on how to better himself. Stanley and Officer Gomez were both rather friendly to Landon, often giving him a hand with certain tasks. Most times Landon would talk shop with Stanley, often trying to find the one new ways to improve the Pipboy. Officer Gomez often kept Landon from getting into much trouble with the Overseer, especially when Butch was involved. He had met a lot of good people in the vault for that he was happy.

To Landon, the biggest problem of the vault was the vault itself. It was almost created as if nothing would ever change. It was built around the philosophy that so long as you are here, nothing bad can happen to you. A false sense of security. After being around for almost 2 decades, it in itself had never changed; not for the better and not for the worst. To Landon, the vault had become so melancholy and boring, that it began to feel as though time itself was not flowing even though the Pipboy said otherwise.

Landon finished off the remaining vodka in his shot glass and put the cap back on the vodka bottle. Getting up off the couch in his living room, he opened the door to his bedroom, opened up his dresser, and stored the vodka bottle underneath one of his vault suits. After looking around the room to make sure everything was still in the order as when he came in, he got into his bed looked up, and thought to himself:

_"Is this all my life is really going to be?" _

He was hoping not. He no longer cared what; he wished that something would happen, something that would change this everyday routine, even if it was just a brief flash in time. Eventually his tiredness overcame him, and he found himself in a deep sleep, and dreaming that this underground "world" would change.

Asleep… and unaware that a pair of sorrowful but strong eyes were watching him through the bedroom window.

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And that's the prologue. I know it isn't much, but i hope you like it.


	2. Escape from Fantasy

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Fallout 3, the franchise, Zenimax, or Bethesda. Through your money at them for their good ideas. Now on with the show.  
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**Vault 101 5:30 AM**

"..don, wa… up"

"Ngh…" was Landon's only response. Although he could not see the time, he knew that it was well before when he should be waking up. He tried to dose off and get a little bit more sleep before the day's events unfolded.

"Wake up, Landon…" Landon heard the voice louder this time. This time, he just pulled the blanket over his head, hoping that this body language would tell the person to leave him alone. To his disgruntled dismay, the blanket was pulled off of him instead, causing him to become a bit more aware to his surroundings. Landon looked over his shoulder to see my childhood friend, Amata, standing over him.

Still feeling groggy, he looked at her before asking rather nonchalantly "Oh, hey Amata. What's up," before letting out a rather big yawn. She grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him up.

"Listen to me! You need to get out of here!" Amata said. It was at this point that Landon noticed that her voice was more worried than usual. He might have been tired, but he tried his best to hold my attention. Amata released him as she continued. "Your father left the vault during the night and there is a radroach infestation that is going on right now. My father thinks that both you and Jonas had something to do with it and his men are going to be looking for you."

"What do you mean my father left the vault?" He asked, confused. "There is no way he could have gotten out of here. Between needing the password for the door to the Vault and the way to the door is guarded at all times, trying to get out of Vault 101 is almost impossible due to it being underground." Unless he had been digging out with a spoon for the last decade and had been keeping the hole concealed with an old poster, it shouldn't be possible.

"I don't know how… He just disappeared without a trace." Amata responded with hastened speech. "But my father has gone crazy and he has his men looking for you!"

"What's wrong Amata? You look terrified." Landon asked.

She paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out how to say something. Obviously, she was looking for a way to see how to say something without adding more distress to what is going on already. "Jonas… Jonas is dead! My father's men came and took him off to the Overseers office and… You just need to get out of here now!"

Jones was dead? The doctor had always been so friendly to everyone in Vault 101 and had been close to me since I was 5 years old. But for him to be killed off due to the overseer's paranoia spoke volumes of what was going on right at this time. Not only that, but to know that a swarm of 1 foot long cockroaches had invaded the vault would have everyone in a state of panic. Shit, this was a lot to take in at once.

"Listen," she started again, "I know this isn't the time or the place to ask this, but did you know that your dad was going to do this?" Landon looked at her, stared in disbelief. "No, I had no idea that he was going to do this."

Amata looked at him almost apologetically, "I… I'm sorry to hear about that." Her voice dropped a bit. "Maybe Jonas was supposed to explain everything about what happened?"

"Maybe." is all he could respond with.

"But listen," Amata's voice rose once more. "You won't be safe here in the Vault and the longer you stay here, the worse things are going to get. You need to leave as well!"

As much as Landon hated to admit it as well, there was no choice in it. Staying here would only increase the violence against him from the other inhabitance and he could only stay hidden for so long from security in the reactor levels of the vault. Damn it. "Amata, I really hope you have a plan, because right now, I woke up to see my life go to hell and I'm having a hard time coping with it."

"I do have a plan and hopefully it will work," she said. "There is a hidden tunnel in my dad's office underneath his desk. You're probably going to have to hack into my father's computer to get the tunnel open. I have no idea where it will lead to but it's better than trying to get past the security team leading to the main vault door."

After hearing her plan, Landon let out a small sigh. At least there could be a way for him to survive now that everything had gone to hell. It might be hard, but it would be better than charging the narrow corridor where there are armed guards.

"Oh. One last thing," Amata stated. He looked at her curiously as she took something out of one of her pockets. She pulled out what looked like a handgun that security used for heavy riots. "I took my father's gun from his desk. I hope you don't need to use it, but I want to see you safe." She stretched out the hand with the pistol to him, making sure the barrel of the gun was away from both of them. At first, he wasn't sure if he should take it. It would only give the security teams more of a reason to kill him if he did. Then again, better to take it with him just in case.

"Thanks Amata, I'll try to only use it in an emergency." He said when finally took it from her outstretched hand, with a stern look on his face. "But please know that I not making promises in this situation."

Her face became less serious and seamed to become a little sorrowful when he said this. "I know… I just really hope that you don't have to use it thought." She said, her tone of her voice confirming it. "Listen, I'll try to meet up with you at my dad's office. Just promise me that you'll be careful." Finally looking directly into her eyes after hearing about Jonas's death, he noticed something. Although her face had been trying to stay strong throughout this conversation, her eyes said that she was scared. Landon put on his best fake smile and said "Amata, I can definitely promise you that."

She seemed to smile half-heartedly with my response. Amata then took off and left Landon siting on his bed, in the apartment alone. Remembering that security could be down here soon, Landon decided to grab what he needed in order to make it to the overseer's office. He went to his dresser and grabbed an old backpack that he used for storage for his medical equipment. Quickly emptying it out, he noticed that most of the inventory wouldn't be useful, deciding to take only an unopened bottle of whisky, some pencils, notepad, and an old hand mirror. He then shifted the dresser itself, grabbed his old BB gun and the ammo, and put them in the bag. Looking at his desk, Landon remembered that some of his old baseball equipment was out from a few nights ago. Most of it would be worthless but the wood bat would be useful. Grabbing it, he decided that this would be the best weapon of choice right now. With that, he decided to pocket the handgun until he really needed it. Deciding that that would be enough for the time being, he left his room, and quickly scanned the living area for anything he would need. When nothing of absolute necessity came to mind, he made a bee line for the door and got into the halls.

"HEY YOU! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" someone yelled.

Too late. Looking down the hall, Landon saw that one of the guards has already made his way here. It would have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that a group of roaches had intercepted the law in the process, forcing the guard's immediate thoughts on defending himself. Landon decided to make his way through the bathroom instead of fighting a three way battle.

Upon exiting from the other side, Landon started making a full sprint down the corridor, hoping that no one else would show up. Sadly, Butch came out from the adjacent hallways and noticed him. Preparing for the worst, Landon readied his bat and kept moving forward, hoping to scare the Vault

bully off. Instead, Butch ran over to him.

"Landon! Please, you got to help me!" Butch begged. Butch asking for help? Oh the irony, but no time to enjoy it.

"Kind of a hurry here, Butch!" Landon replied, trying to get past the pest.

"Listen it's my mom! She's getting attacked by those roaches! Please, can you save her?" was all bully could say.

Instantly cursing his own moral compass, Landon started down the corridor where DeLoria residents lived. After opening the metal door to the apartment and seeing Butch's mother being attacked by three of the bugs, Landon jumped on to one of them, killing it. With the bat in hand, Landon landed a blow on the second Radroach, ending it as well. Landon quickly eliminated the third one with ease and left before Butch could even say thank you.

Upon returning to where he was before he was sidetracked, Landon took a left and continued down the path, passing the cafeteria and was about to pass the medical lab only to be sighted by another guard. Landon was ready to engage the man, but immediately stopped when he realized that the guard was Officer Gomez. The two men looked at each other for a few seconds when Gomez cracked a simple, but sad, smile and walked off. Landon ran passed where the guard walked off to and as he climbed the steps to the atrium, he became slightly saddened that it was the last time he would see Gomez again.

The moment was brief as he heard gunshots being fired from up ahead. As Landon entered the open area, he could see one of the female vault residents being gunned down and fall down on what he thought was another corpse. Approaching the hallway, Landon recognized that the bodies of Mary and Tom Holden were lying there.

"_Damn it, the body count was rising and none of them seem justified"._ Landon thought. Taking out the mirror, he shifted it to see what was down the hall and noticed two armed guardsmen in front of the door, both men appeared to having a case of the shakes after what they just did. Noting this, Landon pocketed the mirror and ran passed the hall entrance and proceeded to make his way to the second story, dodging more of the overgrown insects on the way up. He would have killed them, but decided that if security noticed him run by, they would be slowed down by take care of the critters.

Upon reaching the second story of the atrium, Landon started to make his way to the Overseer's office and ran passed Allen Mack's apartment, trying to ignore the man's insults. Landon entered the Hub room for the Vault. He almost ran through it but stopped when he noticed another body on the ground. Stopping to examine it, Landon let out another sigh, and closed the man's eyes. He then noticed that there was a tool box next to the corpse. Although it wasn't the time to do so, he rummaged through the box to see if there was anything he could use. Noticing a wrench, screwdriver, bobby pins and a pair of wire clippers, Landon took off his sack and put them in it.

Landon was about to keep moving when he heard the cry of a Radroach dying on the opposite side of one of the hubs. Deciding that it might be best to hide, especially with so much death already in the vault, Landon ducked behind one of the room's supports and pulled out his mirror again. He caught a glimpse of the chief of security Hannon with his baton out as he passed by, with a rather malicious smile on his face. When the man wasn't in sight anymore, Landon began to head back to where the chief had entered, closed the door, and began down the hallway again.

"I told you, I don't know anything!" came Amata's voice down the hall, freezing Landon in his place. Even lug head Butch could figure out that she had been caught.

"Be reasonable Amata," the Overseer's voice in a rather practiced calm tone. "Officer Mack might enjoy this, but I don't. Just tell me where to find your friend so we can talk to him."

Looking through the security room window, Landon saw the two men standing over Amata, with the latter having a swollen area on her left cheek. Immediately, Landon grabbed the bat and opened the door to the room. Neither man seemed to notice, so he carefully walked up behind the officer.

"What does he have to do with this, anyways?" Amata asked her father, sensing the fear in her voice.

"Probably nothing." He replied, keeping his tone of voice and still unaware of Landon's presence.

"Which is why you should let me know where he is, so I can get this all straightened out."

"Want me to hit her again, sir?" Officer Mack said in a stern voice as he readied his baton again.

Those words seemed to make Landon able to do what happened next. Raising the bat over his head, Landon struck the Officer's head with enough force that he was down in one hit. The act made the Overseer and Amata jump out of their skins and scared out of their minds, with the former realizing that his only guard was down and he didn't have a weapon on hand.

"Amata, Run" Landon said in a harsh tone. She took his advice and ran off. After she left, Landon then proceeded to look directly at the Overseer. "You have got a lot to answer for, Alphonse."

"I don't recall giving you the right to be so familiar, Landon." The overseer said, still keeping his voice in a rather sickeningly calm tone. "Besides you're in a lot of trouble. Why not make it easier for yourself and turn yourself in."

Landon scoffed. "You really think I would do that, especially after hearing what you did to Jonas?" Not breaking eye contact, Landon checked Mack's pulse to see if he was still alive. He was, but now not a problem in the current situation.

"Jonas was a security threat," the overseer retorted. "Sad as it might be, he had to be eliminated. I will not let this Vault be compromised by an outside force."

"Well too bad then, since you're going to have another breach now anyways. You've made it pretty clear that I can't stay in the vault anymore, even before I came up here." Landon said, dropping the bat and pulling out the pistol that he had pocketed earlier, aiming it at the man. "Now listen, I just want the key to your office and the password for your terminal. Give me those and I'll gladly walk away from this prison that you call home."

"Oh, is that all? Is there anything else I can get for you while you're here? Maybe an ice cold Nuka Cola from the mess hall?" Alphonse asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, before becoming stern again. "You will get nothing from me. I would rather die before endangering this safety of the Vault again."

"Well, can't say I didn't try." Landon said. "But listen carefully to these next words." Landon spoke in a more dead serious fashion then previously, the handgun. "If I ever find out that you hurt Amata again, I will personally find a way back into the vault and bring you down, along with your 'ivory tower'."

"You would never…" Alphonse started, only to be stopped as he heard Landon pull the hammer of the pistol back.

"As overseer, I must take the vaults security over that of my own feelings of being a father." Alphonse said, trying to reason with Landon. But seeing the look in the teenager was giving him, the overseer paused before continuing, "But very well, you will at least have my promise that she will not be harmed for aiding you."

"Excuse me, if I call bull on that. Now, get into that cell." as Landon motioned toward the adjacent room. "And take your goon with you."

Reluctantly, Alphonse grabbed Mack's unconscious body and dragged it into the other room. As soon as they were in, Landon closed the door and jammed the lock. Knowing that it would at least buy him some time, Landon picked up the bat again, and reentered the hall, proceeding to find the Overseer's office.

Landon entered the office and immediately shut the door. As he proceeded to walk into the room, he noticed lying in the middle of floor was Jonas's dead body. Immediately regretting not having shot the overseer earlier, Landon walked up to the body and crouched beside it. Taking off the glasses on the corpse, Landon closed Jonas's eyes, hoping that it would bring some piece to his soul. Seeing one of your friends dead is never easy thing, especially one that had been your friend since the day you were born.

"It's not easy to look at, is it?" Landon looked up to see Amata standing over him.

"Yeah… but it really it shouldn't be," He responded. Even though Security was out for him, Landon felt drained after seeing the corpse. Taking one last look at the body, he got back up.

Amata looked down an "Listen, I wanted to thank you for saving me from my father. I know he's not right in the head right now, but thank you." She said.

"No problem, Amata."

"Here, I was trying to get this when Officer Mack found me earlier," pulling out a key from her jumpsuit. "It's the key to dad's main office. Inside, there should be a way to the main entrance." She explained as she handed it to Landon. "I'll catch up with you in a little while. I need to get something from the mess hall."

Nodding, Landon took the key and made his way into the overseer's office. Looking around, he decided to rummage through office to find the password to the computer. After about five minutes passed, he finally found the password in one of the lockers, along with ammunition, some Mentats, and a few stimpaks. Noticing the medical equipment, he grumbled to himself as he threw them into his pack. Taking out the notebook and pencil, he jotted a few notes down and ripped the paper out, stuffing it into his pocket. Landon went to the computer and imputed the code, unlocking the terminal, and used the command code for the hidden passage.

As the passageway revealed itself, Landon took a look at some of the other Overseer's files to see if there was anything else that would help with the escape. Although there was nothing on it, there were a few files about the area outside the vault, the oversized wildlife, and a place called Megaton.

"_First stop, Megaton"_ He thought.

Seeing that the tunnel entrance was now open, Landon was almost impressed at how big as it was, that it was hidden underneath the overseer's desk. He jumped down and ran as fast as he could down the tunnel, only stopping once to open another hidden door, leading to a security booth in the vault entrance.

As he exited the booth, he noticed a control panel in the room. Although winded, he walked up the panel and pulled the switch. Immediately, warning lights flashed as the unlocking mechanism inserted itself into the massive steel cog that was the entrance.

"Oh my god…" Landon looked over his shoulder to see Amata next to him, seeing that she was carrying a few bottles of water with her. "You did it. Landon, you actually got it opened."

"Not like I have a lot of options today, Amata," he replied, as the door opened up and rolled aside. Even if he did, those bridges were burned now. "Best choice now is to go follow in my father's footsteps."

"I had a feeling you would, Landon, so I prepared one last thing for you." Amata responded, as she opened Landon's bag and put the bottles in. "I don't know what is going to be out there, but at least you should be able to last a while with these."

"Thanks Amata. I… I don't think I could have done as well if you didn't help out." He said, trying to be humble.

"Landon, you and I both know that you would have made it here on your own," she smiled, zipping up the bag.

"Most likely, but just not as in good condition," he mused.

Remembering the piece of paper that he had in his pocket, he then took it out and passed it to Amata.

"What's this?" she asked.

"A way to keep…" Landon started but the sound of one of the other doors opening cut him off.

"There he is! Don't let him get away!" Shouted one of security guards as he pulled out his baton.

"Take care, Amata." Landon said, making haste for the now open Vault door. As he crossed into the stony cave, he looked back to see that the guards had stopped just short of the vault door, dreading to move further out. Looking further back, he could see Amata at the control panel, having pulled the leaver to close the door. Their eyes made contact one last time before the door to the vault closed.

With the door home closed to him, Landon turned his back on Vault 101 and walked to the end of the cave. Heavy in heart, he opened the wooden door to an unknown world.

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Finally got chapter 2 done, and I hope the get the next chapter done much faster. Happy Holidays to you all and I hope you all have a smashing New Year!


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